NY Times Today: Is a Disney Theme Park Vacation Still Worth the Price?

[gmi3804]

In this morning’s New York Times. Thoughts?

Is a Disney Theme Park Vacation Still Worth the Price?
By Tariro Mzezewa
Aug. 9, 2024, 5:03 a.m. ET

Earlier this year, Jake Williams, a filmmaker and content creator in Toronto, made his long-awaited return to one of his favorite places on earth: Walt Disney World in Orlando, Fla. After traveling to Disney World and Disneyland multiple times a year since childhood and becoming an annual pass holder as an adult, Mr. Williams hadn’t been to a Disney park since 2019.

“As someone who went all the time, it’s crazy to me that I hadn’t gone to a Disney park in that long,” he said in a phone interview. “It’s a special place.”

Before his trip, Mr. Williams heard about some changes at Disney World, but he didn’t anticipate how different things would be, starting at the airport. Since his last visit, the company had gotten rid of the Magical Express, a free bus that for more than 15 years shuttled people from Orlando International Airport to their Disney resorts. Guests must now take a shuttle that costs between $23 and $30 per adult each way, depending on the time of year, use a ride share service or rent a car.

To Disney-goers, the end of the Magical Express speaks to a larger issue: The cost of being at the happiest place on earth is going up while the perks are going away. As the company has raised the price of tickets and hotel rooms, and added costly, difficult-to-navigate tools to book rides as replacements for previously free products, even its most loyal fans are asking themselves if it’s still worth it.

Mr. Williams said that a day in the Orlando parks and a one-night stay at Disney’s Port Orleans Riverside Resort cost a “jaw-dropping” $886.34 for two adults. He decided to calculate how much the same trip cost in 2017 — a year when he visited the park several times. The cost: $567.90. Even accounting for inflation, he was stunned.

“It’s hard to justify going to Orlando rather than, like, Iceland,” he said. “When you have a budget like this, you can go a lot of places and see and do a lot of things. You could even do a Disney cruise for less than that.”

Epcot’s Italy, or Italy?​

He’s not alone. Len Testa, president of Touring Plans, a site that helps travelers organize Disney trips, and a co-author of “The Unofficial Guides to Walt Disney World and Disneyland,” said that he increasingly hears from Disney lovers who are now planning other types of vacations.

“At some point a Disney vacation starts competing with ‘Let’s go see Europe’ and I think that’s what a lot of people are doing,” Mr. Testa said. “I’ve had a number of people in the last few years say, ‘We priced it out and we could take our children to eat pizza in the Italy pavilion in Epcot or for the same money we could actually go to Italy for two weeks. We’re going to go to Italy for two weeks.’”

For Mr. Testa, collecting data about Disney is a passion. In the late ’90s, as a graduate student in computer science he decided he wanted to build a computer program that could help people navigate Disney World as efficiently as possible. That research continued through his Ph.D and the program he created turned into Touring Plans. His team of developers and data scientists model what’s going on at Walt Disney World on a minute-by-minute basis every day. The data they’ve collected in recent years shows that the cost of a Disney World trip, on average, has gone up almost 25 percent since 2019. Seventy percent of that increase is for services that used to be free.

The prices of parking and entry tickets have consistently risen in recent years. In 2022 ticket prices went up two times. In 2023 annual passes saw a $30 to $50 increase, depending on the tier, while multiday tickets also went up. A one-day ticket to either of Disney’s U.S. parks now costs $109 for anyone over the age of 10.

 

[NYCgrrl]

Read the article this morning; awful lot of truths.

Now the guy who owns a DVC and yet spent 7K for his family vacation really didn’t give enough details for me to offer an opinion on his specific story. Did he buy APs for every family member? How many family members? How much was transportation?

Still, the numbers don’t lie and just looking at my own circumstances I see many increases I really didn’t want to acknowledge. And noooo there isn’t enough pixie dust to justify spending approximately 1K p/p daily. I’ll do it this coming Christmas but serious thought will need to happen for the future.

 

[MICKIMINI]

Numbers are incredible and increasing all the time. I am looking at our "last minute" trip in October. DH and I will be at WDW for 6 nights and our son and DIL for 5 nights.

* Two RT NS MHT-MCO-MHT $23
* Two RT NS HOU-MCO-HOU $123 (early bird)
* 216 DVC Points @ $10 = $2160
* MHT Garage Parking $100
* Car Service RT $230 w/tip
* Alamo 5 day rental plus gas $400
* Two ADR's for four adults $800
* QS 6 days 2 adults @ $100 = $1200
* QS 5 days 2 adults @ $100 = $1000
* 2 TIX MNSSHP $400
* 2 Adults EPCOT $300

Total: $6736*


*Does not include son and DIL's rental car, HOU parking, groceries, miscellaneous etc. He has a conference so this is more work than play.

**This is 5 nights at SSR in a studio ($3000) and 1 night at Poly ($1000) and 5 nights at AKV 1 BR Value ($5000?) or $9000 at current rates (+/-) which would double the total cost for a family that is not DVC!!

Add two kids to this equation, full price air tickets and park tickets and it would seemingly be over 15K.

We sold most of our DVC contracts in the past couple years and are down to two with one being direct. Our son and DIL have been going to Europe twice a year and we are happy in our newly built home...not so sure we'll be doing this many more times even though we consider this our "second home" LOL!

 

[JerrodDragon89]

I mean....it is until people stop paying

I always find these interesting because its just kinda a disconnect between what people spend and what they say online

No doubt some people mean it and are here and wont spend the money but....others will.

But until demand goes down, these are the prices and they will keep going up every year...heck Storytellers at Disneyland is going up 10 bucks a person next month (price now is 52), unless more then like 20% of people stop showing up Disney is making as much if not more then ever on it, same with Disney Plus people will complain about the price but unless more people drop it then by the percent the price is raised its just talk

I'm in no way defending Disney just pointing out that things wont change until people stop going or paying

 

[igrsod]

I have dvc and go twice a year most years. We used to buy park tickets for each day and do at least one table service per day. Now we quite often don’t go to the parks at all and do only a couple of table service meals. The cost has risen out of proportion with people’s disposable income. So we still vacation on property, we just don’t spend the extra dollars we used to. It’s sad really. Disney got greedy over the past decade.

 

[irlandaise]

It isn't just the money. As another part of the article notes: "For many guests, price isn’t the only hurdle. Visitors now have to navigate several new apps and tools if they want the best chance at getting on the most popular rides." (A section about Genie+ follows that.)

Oh, by the way:

To Disney-goers, the end of the Magical Express speaks to a larger issue: The cost of being at the happiest place on earth is going up while the perks are going away.

Since that sentence is about WDW, it should not have had the phrase "happiest place on earth." That's Disneyland's motto. The one for WDW is "The Most Magical Place on Earth." As a California native, I really get tired of writers making that mistake.

Anyway, here's a link to the full article that will allow non-subscribers to read it for the next two weeks:
https://www.nytimes.com/2024/08/09/...e_code=1.Bk4.nSVh.MGkgdXLI0QPH&smid=url-share

 

[tjkraz]

I don't know that Walt Disney World vacations were ever something intended to be accessible to the average family multiple times per year, year after year. When I was growing up, we went exactly once. And stayed off site.

I bought into DVC years ago and have been fortunate to use that to manage our expenses. Cooking meals in rooms, spending days at the pool and even driving to Florida are all things we've done when we had to pinch pennies. And it's definitely gotten more expensive as my kids aged and picked up friends / SO to travel with.

But it's no surprise that the average family can probably only afford something like this every 5-10 years. That's the audience Disney has been living off of for decades. Even if prices were 10-20% lower, a hypothetical $10,000 WDW trip is still $8k. Those who can take regular vacations likely have to save for the occasional splurge and moderate with cheaper destinations.

This newer "disney adult" phenomenon of buying an annual pass, traveling 1000 miles and staying in Disney hotels multiple times per year is definitely not for every budget.

 

[gmi3804]

Recent numbers suggest the demand is
going down. Or maybe it’s just the summer heat. Fall will tell the story, but hotel discounts hint at lower occupancy this year.

 

[dvczerfs]

I don't know that Walt Disney World vacations were ever something intended to be accessible to the average family multiple times per year, year after year. When I was growing up, we went exactly once. And stayed off site.

I bought into DVC years ago and have been fortunate to use that to manage our expenses. Cooking meals in rooms, spending days at the pool and even driving to Florida are all things we've done when we had to pinch pennies. And it's definitely gotten more expensive as my kids aged and picked up friends / SO to travel with.

But it's no surprise that the average family can probably only afford something like this every 5-10 years. That's the audience Disney has been living off of for decades. Even if prices were 10-20% lower, a hypothetical $10,000 WDW trip is still $8k. Those who can take regular vacations likely have to save for the occasional splurge and moderate with cheaper destinations.

This newer "disney adult" phenomenon of buying an annual pass, traveling 1000 miles and staying in Disney hotels multiple times per year is definitely not for every bu

I love your post

I don't know that Walt Disney World vacations were ever something intended to be accessible to the average family multiple times per year, year after year. When I was growing up, we went exactly once. And stayed off site.

I bought into DVC years ago and have been fortunate to use that to manage our expenses. Cooking meals in rooms, spending days at the pool and even driving to Florida are all things we've done when we had to pinch pennies. And it's definitely gotten more expensive as my kids aged and picked up friends / SO to travel with.

But it's no surprise that the average family can probably only afford something like this every 5-10 years. That's the audience Disney has been living off of for decades. Even if prices were 10-20% lower, a hypothetical $10,000 WDW trip is still $8k. Those who can take regular vacations likely have to save for the occasional splurge and moderate with cheaper destinations.

This newer "disney adult" phenomenon of buying an annual pass, traveling 1000 miles and staying in Disney hotels multiple times per year is definitely not for every budget.

Thank you. Very nice post.
It never was a cheap vacation. From the 70s and into the 80s, we use to stay on Sun Coast Pkwy, which is now Arlo Bronson, rt 192 in a Days Inn. Spent a few days in The Magic Kingdom later Epcot and that was it. Steak and Ale was the dining highlight. We bought DVC 25 years ago and a pass holder almost 30 years. That was our entertainment budget.
I think what people are having a hard time with is the cost of everything has gone through the roof in the last ten years. Insurance, food, gas, utilities you name it. Their disposable income has diminished. They look back and remember their Disney vacation and what it cost them and what it cost now and have sticker shock. Labor has more than doubled in tens years. In 2013, my daughter was a cp, she made $7.50 an hour. Which today would barely buy two gallons of gas.
I give no weight to any article that whoever is the interviewee, author don’t know the difference between Magical Place on Earth and The Happiest Place on Earth.
Last but not least. You read any boards, social media and what are the biggest complaints?
Lines are too long!!
I’m not going back, it cost too much!!!
So, someone is paying to go if the lines are too long.

Another post about Magical Express,
Everyone bit. I’m sorry, complained about it!! They pick you up too soon for the airport. They drive to multiple resorts. I’m going to use ride share.
Just look back on threads here on the boards and see all the hate directed to ME. It’s hysterical how many people miss it that didn’t use it to begin with.
Go back to fast pass!! Remember those days, you literally got trampled, strollers used as battering rams, people running and pushing to get a FP which most people never came back at those times anyway, they used it for any time slot they wanted. They took care of that problem.
It’s like my mom use to tell me when I was a kid, be careful what you wish for, you just may get it.
Obviously I’m not directing any of this at you, I should have started my own post, sorry.
But geez, sometimes I just can’t take it anymore. lol
People complain and complain, go somewhere else and go on that vacation destinations boards and complain there. lol.

 

[Minnie1222]

Is a Disney Theme Park Vacation Still Worth the Price?

YES

Epcot’s Italy, or Italy?

Why not both? A short trip for Epcot's Italy, and a longer trip to Italy .

 

[gmi3804]

Why not both? A short trip for Epcot's Italy, and a longer trip to Italy .

I suppose you didn’t read the article.

Mr. Testa said. “I’ve had a number of people in the last few years say, ‘We priced it out and we could take our children to eat pizza in the Italy pavilion in Epcot or for the same money we could actually go to Italy for two weeks. We’re going to go to Italy for two weeks.’”

 

[Minnie1222]

I suppose you didn’t read the article.

Mr. Testa said. “I’ve had a number of people in the last few years say, ‘We priced it out and we could take our children to eat pizza in the Italy pavilion in Epcot or for the same money we could actually go to Italy for two weeks. We’re going to go to Italy for two weeks.’”

I did read the article. I would shorten my trip to Italy so I can eat pizza at Epcot.

Where are these people from anyway? France? Switzerland? I'm from North America and it's cheaper for me to go to Epcot for two weeks than going to Italy.

 

[NYCgrrl]

Where are these people from anyway? France? Switzerland? I'm from North America and it's cheaper for me to go to Epcot for two weeks than going to Italy.

Living in New York it’s frequently cheaper to travel to Europe than visit the West Coast by plane.

 

[gmi3804]

Living in New York it’s frequently cheaper to travel to Europe than visit the West Coast by plane.

Then once you get there, things are relatively cheap. Our dinners in Spain in April (we went to moderately upscale places) had $7 cocktails, $23 entrees, and bottles of reserve wines were never more than $45. And those prices included tax and tip.

 

[DodgerGirl]

Why I think Disney vacations aren't worth the money as they used to be is because they have turned into such an annoying pain to plan and becoming not so easy to plan as it used to be easy and simple to plan. Now you go log in on your computer trying to make a reservation for a character meal at a restaurant and minutes later the computer freezes and by the time you get the computer working the reservation for that character meal is gone and then you are stuck searching for another restaurant and it's the same thing with looking for a cheapest deal on a Disney resort and the same thing happens when you reserve your room online and by the time you refresh the webpage that deal is gone and when you get the general picture this isn't the way to plan a Disney vacation today. But when you finally visit the parks this is where the annoying pain begins because when you get there it seems you are waiting in long lines for everything from meeting and getting photos and autographs with the characters to riding on rides even long lines to buy stuff at the shops and buying food and snacks for the kids. What I think REALLY ruined Disney Parks is the debut of Genie+ and Lightning Lane and I cannot figure out why they even invented Genie+ and Lightning Lane but to me this system is expensive and not worth the money. But what really is the cause for Disney Parks going downhill was the pandemic and when Walt Disney World closed due to the pandemic a lot of travel agents lost money and when they reopened travel agents went back to work making money selling Disney World vacation packages. But it was the death of Magical Express that caused Walt Disney World to go downhill because people were afraid of catching illnesses from passengers and that's why they brought out the Minnie Van service because that was a better deal. But today it is still happening and because of the prices families take their kids to other places for cheaper prices

 

[NYCgrrl]

But it was the death of Magical Express that caused Walt Disney World to go downhill because people were afraid of catching illnesses from passengers and that's why they brought out the Minnie Van service because that was a better deal.

Interesting line of thought but it falters in the quoted area because Magical Express ended before Covid and Minnie Van was unveiled a year or two before the pandemic as well.

 

[wabbott]

There are some interesting comments at the end of the article. 1201 of them. Looks like lots of folks had something to say.

 

[NYCgrrl]

There are some interesting comments at the end of the article. 1201 of them. Looks like lots of folks had something to say.

Oh yes, that’s where the “party” often starts,LOL.

For clarity, I should note that my first post references someone who answered in the comment section of the newspaper

 

[irlandaise]

There are some interesting comments at the end of the article. 1201 of them. Looks like lots of folks had something to say.

Oh yes, that’s where the “party” often starts,LOL.

I frequently do a fast scan of a story in the NYT or WaPo and then quickly head to the comments.

 

[Smugpugmug]

My friend was telling me about how her parents wanted to take her younger siblings on a Disney trip as they had not been since the youngest sibling was an infant but they decided to do a trip to Cancun at an all inclusive resort instead. Price was a factor in that decision but the bigger issue was value for money. They had not been since Fastpass+ and Magical Express and now both were gone and replaced with paid options. It rubbed them the wrong way so they did the Cancun trip instead and the kids loved it.

As for me, I'm in the early stages of planning a trip to Turkey and Greece next year and even with increased prices in Turkey due to inflation/the lira tanking, it's going to come out to be cheaper than a trip to Disney. That same friend whose parents went to Cancun is coming with me and while she loves Disney, she would 10000% rather spend the money to go abroad than to Florida.